South Dakota Voting Issues

[Dutch_12078]

21 minutes ago, Kirk W said:

That is the real issue since there is no national domicile and no special provision in voting laws in the states of preferred domicile. It would be nice if there were some provision for those who live fulltime in an RV, but there is not and I doubt any of us will live long enough to see it happen. If I had the power to change state voting laws for us, I would create a special registration for those who domicile by mail service to be able to vote only on statewide and federal issues and offices. I highly doubt that we will see that happen. 

How would you differentiate between mobile fulltimers using a mail service and non-mobile domicile state located fulltimers that also use a mail service? The variables among fulltime RV'ers and boaters would make it a difficult call as to who gets to vote for what.  

[whj469]

The people who own those nice waterfront homes in Corpus Christi do pay real estate taxes and I bet it is a lot? They do belong to the community because of the taxes they pay.

[packnrat]

any elected officer or bureaucrat that try's to prevent a American the right to vote will find themselves in very hot water, super fast.

[FL-JOE]

20 hours ago, docj said:

I dare say that the devil's in the detail (as usual).  Is someone living "long term" in a trailer park or RV park a "real resident"?  How many days must they have been there before they would be considered "real"?  

I honestly don't see much of a difference in this issue between full-timers and a rich person who might have multiple homes, only one of which can be his legal domicile.  He can vote at his domicile address regardless of how much time he spends there.  What makes his understanding of local issues any better than a full-timer's?  In the Corpus Christi area, where we hang out, there are quite a few waterfront "mansions" which stand vacant most of the year.  No doubt some are legal domiciles for their owners.  Should the owners of these properties vote if they aren't around and don't know the issues?

I would lean toward they have a much better understanding of the local issues and have a more urgent need to vote on them simply due to the fact they probably spend thousands upon thousands of dollars in property tax money for those waterfront mansions.  I don't care if one of those mansion owners are only spending a month a year there, just think about the $20,000 to $30,000 in tax dollars the locals are getting simply from their properties.  I'm pretty sure the locals would not miss the few dollars a full time RVer contributes through registrations.

[Kirk W]

1 hour ago, FL-JOE said:

I don't care if one of those mansion owners are only spending a month a year there, just think about the $20,000 to $30,000 in tax dollars the locals are getting simply from their properties.  I'm pretty sure the locals would not miss the few dollars a full time RVer contributes through registrations.

That is exactly the point. It is common for threads here to point out that local taxes don't matter to fulltimers since they are seldom, if ever in their domicile state to pay those taxes other than vehicle registration. In our 12 years of fulltime travels, we did return to TX each year (only 1 time were gone for 17 months) to visit our doctors, kids, dentist, and banker. But all of those were in Ft, Worth while we voted in Livingston. We never voted for any of the local officeholders or bond issues and such, but those who live in Livingston have no way to know for sure what I voted on. In addition, I did vote for those who represented TX in the Congress and for those representing Polk County in the TX legislature, even though I never spent more than 1 month continuously in Polk Co. I was a TX resident before I registered to vote in Polk County and I am now a permanent resident and property owner in Smith County, TX but those who live and work in Livingston only know that I was registered to the Escapee mail service. I believe that every US citizen should be able to vote but understand the local objection.

It is not unusual for us to discuss how seldom we spend time in our location of legal domicile on this and other RV forums. At times it seems that some boast of the rarity of spending any time at all at the location of domicile and that is the root issue currently in SD.

 

 

[MeanderMan]

I suspect that how a SD resident feels about Rvers voting is all about their personal politics.  To illustrate, a few years ago we were volunteering at the Patagoinia-Sonoita Nature Conservancy preserve in Southern Arizona.  An older lady who I was taking on a birding tour saw our motorhome and our license plates and wanted to know if we were SD residents.  I explained that we were full time RVers which triggered a lengthy diatribe about how RVers shouldn't be allowed to vote in SD because they were all Republicans and unfairly tilted the elections.  I explained that after years of traveling the country and teaching children and adults about nature that i had become a Democratic-leaning Independent.  She thought for a moment and then said "well, in that case I guess you should be allowed to vote".  

[Kirk W]

9 hours ago, MeanderMan said:

She thought for a moment and then said "well, in that case I guess you should be allowed to vote".  

I have no doubt you are at least partially right.